Mumsnet
Mumsnet is a highly successful community website set up by a group of mothers to give advice and support on parenting and family issues. It was famously involved in libel litigation with Gina Ford over alleged defamatory comments made on the site's messageboards by its members (this has now been settled). Website history Mumsnet was set up in January 2000 by Justine Roberts, a sports journalist, and Carrie Longton, a TV producer, after they met in an antenatal class. They had a simple idea: to build a large circle of parents sharing their know-how on the Internet. Mumsnet is run from "Mumsnet Towers" (also known as MNHQ) by a staff of 8; mostly mothers working part time but including Steve, fondly known to members as "Tech". The owners cite statistics of 400,000 individual visitors per month, giving around 13,000,000 monthly page impressions. Mumsnet Talk, the fast-paced discussion board, has around 15,000 posts every day. Website Sections Talk is the most popular section of the website, with a wide range of topics from "Chat" to "Special Needs". The boards are unmoderated, but are self-policed by members who can report posts to be considered for deletion. Mumsnet Local is the newest area of the site, with local listings and classified ads for locations all over the UK. The content is contributed by MN members, and monitored by a "Tsarina" in each area. Product Reviews contains reviews of products and services written by MN members. The Big Issues is a series of specially commissioned articles on the major issues facing parents, such as childcare, education and sleep. Your Pregnancy and Your Child offer developmental calendars broken down by week, month and year. Shopping has a large list of links to UK stores, often with a Member discount. Publications and television The first Mumsnet book was published in March 2002. Mums on Babies is a guide to the first year of parenthood collated from the postings of parents on the website. This was followed in January 2004 by Mums on Pregnancy. Two handbag-sized magazine guides have also been produced; "Mumsnet Best" is a compilation of the product reviews on the website. In autumn 2004 Justine and Carrie presented a series for Discovery Health called "Mum's the Word", again drawing from the wealth of shared knowledge on the site. Mumsnet vs Gina Ford In August 2006, lawyers acting for "childcare guru" and former maternity nurse Gina Ford attempted to have Mumsnet.com shut down following what she described as "highly defamatory" postings on the Talk boards, including the now infamous "rockets to Lebanon" comment. The Mumsnet owners immediately had the postings deleted, but a protracted legal battle followed. This was resolved in May 2007 with Ford agreeing not to sue mumsnet.com or its ISP, in return for Mumsnet making a contribution towards her legal costs Mumsnet statement, May 9 2007. During the litigation, Mumsnet members were banned from discussing Gina Ford or her methods. A popular ruse was to refer to "SWMNBN" or "She Who Must Not Be Named" - a humorous nod to the Harry Potter arch-villain, Voldemort who is often called "He who must not be named". Mumsnet and the Media Mumsnet has becoming a popular resource for journalists writing about parenting issues. Heated discussions on the Talk boards have a way of finding their way into the papers - either obliquely or directly. The Times Online blog, Alpha Mummy, is particular fond of citing Mumsnet in blog posts. In July 2007, an online discussion about the inadvisable wording of an advert for missing British child Madeleine McCann, shown before a "U" certificate film British Board of Film Classifications, led to complaints made by Mumsnet members to the cinema chains concerned and the eventual withdrawal of the advert for those films. The debate was highlighted in the British national pressMothers protest over Madeleine advert before showings of Shrek, July 3 2007, Times Online and even briefly became the lead story on Sky News. External links *mumsnet.com *What the papers say *Mumsnet online 'defamation' *Our mums could do it, so why do we need gurus to help us bring up baby? *Childcare expert threatens to have website shut down *Babycare guru demands closure of 'defamatory' site *The baby guru who threw her bottle out of the pram References Category:Censorship in the United Kingdom Category:Freedom of expression